Surname
Mitchell
(Chair)
Kirsch
(Deputy Chair)
Butcher
First Name Biography
Kathy
Kathryn (Kathy) Mitchell is the Chief Panel Member of Planning Panels Victoria. She has a Bachelor of Arts in
Planning, a Graduate Diploma in Urban Sociology and a Master of Arts in Planning (Research). She has previously worked in the private sector, local government, and as an academic, specialising in social and strategic planning, and Activity Centre development. She was a Senior Panel Member with Planning Panels
Victoria from 1996 until her appointment as Chief Panel Member in June 2004. Kathy was an occasional sessional member with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal from 1999 – 2004, and is the immediate past President and a Fellow of the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association.
Kathy regularly chairs planning and environmental matters of State significance, including East West Link,
Logical Inclusions Advisory Committee, Standard Development Contributions Advisory Committee, Princes
Highway EES, Victoria Desalination Plant EES, Sugarloaf North South Pipeline, Woolworths ‘Oxygen’ roll-out,
Point Lonsdale EES, and Wyndham Boat Harbour EES. She has a strong reputation for chairing hearings with certainty fairness, and timeliness.
Michael
Debra
Michael Kirsch is a strategic and statutory planner with over 30 years’ town planning experience. Michael has worked for local and State governments in Victoria and interstate and has been a sole practitioner planning consultant since 2000. He has tertiary qualifications in Town Planning and Business. Michael is a Senior
Sessional Member of Planning Panels Victoria and has been involved in a wide range of Planning Panels and
Ministerial Advisory Committees since 2001. Michael was a member of the New Residential Zones Advisory
Committee (2009) and Deputy Chair of the Residential Zones Standing Advisory Committee (2014).
Debra Butcher is a statutory and strategic planner with over 20 years’ town planning experience. Debra holds a Bachelor of Planning and Design (Honours) and has worked on a diversity of projects throughout her career ranging from providing advice and obtaining approvals for retail proposals, residential projects (including greenfield subdivisions) and education centres, through to undertaking environmental assessment and planning work for infrastructure projects including power lines, wind farms and quarries. Debra has only recently established her own consulting practice having worked for the last 20 years at a number of different
Melbourne based planning consultancies.

Carlisle
Gaschk
McDonald
O’Neill
Riley
Sarah
Peter
Sarah
Rachael
John
Sarah Carlisle is a planning and environmental lawyer with 20 years experience. She holds a Bachelor of Law
(Hons) and a Bachelor of Arts. Sarah has developed extensive expertise in planning, environmental and administrative law. She has worked in both private practice and in the public sector in Victoria, and in the
United Kingdom. She has a sound knowledge of Victorian strategic and statutory planning, having advised on a comprehensive range of issues including permit applications, planning scheme amendments, VCAT appeals, judicial review proceedings and proposals for legislative reform. She has advised extensively on the planning and environmental assessment and approvals processes for major projects.
Peter Gaschk holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, Graduate Diploma in Urban & Regional Planning and
Masters Degree in Heritage Planning. He has worked in a range of senior planning and related management roles for over 30 years. Over this period Peter has worked across the fields of strategic, statutory and heritage planning and environmental management within metropolitan, rural and regional Victoria and interstate locations. Peter’s extensive planning experience and knowledge has been gained from a variety of diverse and challenging working environments while continuing to work across both public and private sectors.
Sarah McDonald is a qualified planner with in-excess of 25 years experience within both the public and private sectors. In her former role with the Victorian Government, Sarah was responsible for leading the development and implementation of government policy through the land use planning system. Sarah is skilled in the practical application of Victorian planning schemes, provisions and policy through her experience as a statutory planner in both local government and private practice. In addition to being a sessional member of
Planning Panels Victoria, Sarah is the Deputy Chairperson of the Victorian Building Appeals Board..
Rachael O’Neill holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Planning) and has over 19 years experience as a town planner. Rachael has a sound knowledge of statutory and strategic planning in Victoria and has worked in both local government and private practice. She established a consulting firm in May 2014. Rachael has extensive experience in providing advice and securing approval for a range of projects, including commercial, education, heritage and residential developments. She appears regularly as an advocate before the Victorian Civil and
Administrative Tribunal.
John Riley is a qualified planner who spans 35 years across a number of public organisations including the Port of Melbourne and a number of local government municipalities. John was the Manager of Land Use Planning at the Port of Melbourne and more recently in the role of urban planning advisor. John has held a number of senior planning roles at the City of Melbourne and other metropolitan councils.